Filing appliance.



H. J. HICK.

FILING APPLIANCE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 25, I914.

1,228,021. Patented May 29, 1917.

Z, 4SHIIETS-SHEET I.

Ill III IIIIIIIII H. J. HICK.

FILING APPLIANCE.

APPLICATION men 'JULY 25. 1914.

1,228,021. 7 7 W nted May 29,1917.

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H. 1. HICK.-

FILING APFLiANCE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 25. I914.

Pavtentd May 29,1911.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

HARRY J". HICK, OF-ALLIANGE, OHIO.

FILING APPLIAncE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented May 29, 1917,

Application filed July 25, 1914. Serial No. 853,062,

To all whom it may concern 1 Be it known that I, HARRY J. 11101:, a

citizen of theUnited States, residing at Alliance, in the county ofStark and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Filing 7 Appliances, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to a filing appliance cover section adapted to be swung on the base section to incase the bill holders when closed, and to form a back for the same when opened.

In a former application filed June 8, 1914, Serial No. 843,602, a filing appliance of this type or character has been illustrated, described and claimed, in which guiding hinge connections between the cover and base sections and external counterbalancing means for the cover section are provided for swing ing and shifting the cover section upon the base section, and in which a series of hinged bill holders and an indexframe are pivoted to therearrim of the cover section.

In a subsequent application filed June 12, 1914, Serial No. 84 1,6372, a filing appliance of this type and character has been illus: trated, described and claimed, inwhich a series of hinged holdershave their hinged ends pivoted intermediate theend holders to the rear rim ofthe cover section ofthe case,with supporting-and guiding means for the free ends of the holders-in the base section'of the case, and ,with swinging contractin connections between the hinged end of t e lower holder of the series and the cover section of the case I for elevating and sustaining the pendent hinged ends of the lower holders.-

And in a later application filed July 24, 1914, Serial No. 852,835, a filing. appliance of thistype orcharacter, has been illustrated, described and claimed, in which a plurality of hinged holders have their hinged endsdepending from .a pivotal connection withv the rear end of the cover section, with means for supporting and guiding the free ends of the holdersupward. and forward from within the base section over the forward rim there of, and extensible frames within each side of the case having counterbalance and elevating and sustaining springs therein, said frame having an upper main head pivoted to the co er i n and a lower bearing member connected by apendent linktolthe base section of the case, the hinged end "of the lower holder being connected by a'swinging link with a minor slide head in the spring frame.

The object of the present invention-is to shorten the total length of such aspring frame without lessening its efiective length and to make the counterbalance means effective in all positions of the cover section of the case, which is attained by pivoting the lower end of the frame directly to the side walls in'the forward end of the base section of the case, by extending a plate upward from the minor slide head in the frame for a pivotal connection with the upper end of the swinging link, and by slotting the pivotal hearings in the ends of the swinging links to accommodate certain movements of the parts. 1

A preferred embodiment of the invention, thus briefly set forth, is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming part here-' ingthe cover section swungupward upon the rear end of the base section and the bill holders carried upward. and forward into reclined operative position;

Fig. l,aj side elevation section of the case, showing the ,8 cover section swung upward upon the rear end of the base section and the upper division of billholders rotated into upright position within the cover section of the case the lower division ofbill holders remaining in reclined position;

Fig. 5, 'a'similar sectlon, showing all the bill holdersrotated into upright position;

a d -i v Fig. 6, an edgeview of the spring frame, showing fragmentary parts of its connections. v I v Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the drawings.

, Thecase is composed of the substantially rectangular bottom or base section 1 .and the top or cover'section 2, which are operatively,

connected together by means of the guiding hinge brackets 3, one bracket being locatedon each side of the rear end. portion of the I base section; by means of which the cover section can be swung and shifted upon the base section to aline either the top or rear end of the cover section with the rear end of the base section.

The series of bill holders 4: and 4 are hinged together at the lower rear ends, and the pivots'5 between two adjoining intermediate holders l and 4 are mounted in the bearing 6 secured on the rear end of the cover.

section; so that the holders above this bearing may be referred to as the upper division of the series, and the holders below this bearing may be referred to as the lower division of the series. The lower forward bill holder l of the series is pivoted at 7 to the rear end of the frame 8, which may carry an index, not shown, for the bill holders, or may form a table for writing or other use, or may be considered merely as a tray for supporting the superposed holders at certain times.

Inclined tracks 9 are provided in the forward end of the base section of the case, on which tracks the forward end of the frame 8 is carried downward and rearward into the base section by its rear end pivotal connection with the lower holder of the series, when the cover is closed downward upon the base section, as shown in Fig. 1.

A bearing shoulder 10 may be provided in each track, upon which the forward end of the frame is adapted to rest when the frame and superposed holders are carried fully downward and rearward in the base section of the case.

The spring frame is composed of the bearing head 11 on its lower end, the outer and inner guide rods 12 and 12* secured to the bearing head at the lower ends, the main sliding head 13 having apertures 14 therein for each of the guide rods 12 and 12 and the minor sliding head 15 having apertures 16 therein for the inner guide rods 12 and having a plate 17 thereon extending upward inside the path of the main sliding head.

The outer and inner coil compression springs 18 and 18 are located around the outer and inner guide rods 12 and 12 the outer springs extending between the bearing head 11 and the main sliding head 13, and the inner springs extending between the bearing head 11 and the minor sliding head 15.

The lower end of the bearing head 11 is pivoted on the post 19 secured to the side wall in the forward portion of the base sec tion of the case, and preferably near the bottom thereof; and the main sliding head is pivoted on the post 20 secured to the side wall in rear of the middle of the cover section of the ease, and preferably below the median line thereof. The swinging link 21 is provided with the longitudinal bearing slots 22 and 23 in its upper and lower ends, which are engaged respectively with the pivot pin 24k on the upper end of the minor head plate 17 and with the pivot pin 25 on the rear end of the lower bill holder 1 The parts and the strength of the springs are so proportioned and arranged that when the cover section is swung and shifted into upright position upon the rear end of the base section of the case, with the bill holders carried forward into reclined operative position, as shown in Fig. 3, the main head 13 will slide upward to the extreme upper ends of the guide rods 12 and 12 and the engagement of the pivot pins 2 1 and 25 with the outer ends of the bearing slots 22 and 23 will slide the minor head 15 on the inner guide rods 12 downward to a substantial distance below the main head 13, as shown in Fig. 1, so that the pivot pin 24 will move below the main head. i In this relation of the parts it is evident that the bill holders 1,4 and 41 comprising the upper division of the series, may be retated upon their hinged ends into upright position, either singly or collectively, in which upright position the upper rear holder of this division is sustained and guided by the abutment rollers 26 provided in each side of the cover section, and the forward holder 4* thereof is supported by the pivotal bear ing 6 on the rear rim of the cover section, all as shown in Fig. 5; so that the rotated holders of this division will be maintained in upright position by the action of gravity in the manner wellknown in this art.

Furthermore, when one or more of the bill holders, 4:, P and 4t comprising the lower division of the series, are rotated on their hinged ends into upright position, as shown for all the holders in Fig. 5, the action of the inner compression springs 12 by thrusting upward the minor head 15 and the swinging link 21 pivoted thereto, serves to elevate and sustain the hinged end of the lower holder 4?; so that all the holders in the lower division of the series which have been rotated into upright position will be maintained in such position, as shown in said Fig. 5.

For closing the case, it is preferred to rotate all the bill holders of the series forward upon their hinged ends into reclined position, superposed upon the frame 8, as shown in Fig. 3; whereupon a forward swinging and rearward shifting of the cover section to close it upon the base section will carry the frame 8 and superposed holders thereon bodily downward and rearward within the two sections of the case, as shown in Fig. 2; the passing of the pivot pin 24 above the main head, and the slotted bearings 22' and 23 in the ends of the swinging link 21, accommodating the varying distance between the pivots 20 and 24 and the pivot 25 during this movement.

During the first portion of this movement it is evident that the energy of only the outer compression springs 18 will be brought into play to counterbalance the weight of the cover section until the main head 13 slides downward upon the guide rods far enough to impinge the minor slide head 15, whereupon the energy of the outer compression springs 18 will be supplemented by the energy of the inner compression springs 18; so that all of the compression springs will serve to counterbalance the weight of the cover section during the final portion of this downward movement toward and upon the base section of the case; and reversely, all the compression springs will serve to assist in elevating the cover section during the first portion of its movement into upright position.

I claim:

1. A filing case including base and cover sections with hinge connections for swinging the cover section upon the rear end of the base section, a bearing head pivoted to the forward part of the base section, a sliding head pivoted to the cover section, a plurality of slide rods secured to the bearing head on opposite sides of its axis and operating in and through the sliding head, and compression springs on the slide rods between the heads for counterbalancing one section on the other. a

2. A filing case including similar base and cover sections with guiding hinge connections for swinging and shifting the cover section upon the base section, a plurality of hinged holders mounted in the case having their hinged ends depending from a pivotal connection with the rearend of the cover section; counterbalance means for the cover section including a bearing head pivoted to the with the rods; and elevating and sustaining means for the holders including a minor head in the path of the main head having sliding engagement with certain rods,and a swinging link having slotted pivotal connections with the minor head and with the hinged end of the lower holder.

3. A filing case including similar base and cover sections with guidin hinge connections for swinging and shltting the cover section upon the base section, a plurality of hinged holders mounted in the case having their hinged ends depending from the pivotal connection with the rear end of the cover section; counterbalance means for the cover section including a bearing head pivoted to the base section having a plurality of guide rods thereon, and a main head pivoted to the cover section having sliding engagement with the rods; and elevating and sustaining means for the holders including a minor head in the path of the main head having sliding engagement with certain rods and having a plate extending upward to pass alongside the main'head, and a swinging link having slotted pivotal connection with the upper end of said extended plate and with the hinged end of the lower holder.

HARRY J. HIGK.

Witnesses:

EARL G. CARLsoN, O'r'ro F. SOHRAMM.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Iatents,

' Washington, D. G. 

